Remembering Nadine Gordimer

The passing of Nadine Gordimer is a tremendous loss, both to South Africa and to the literary world. For me, and others who knew her, it will also be an enormous personal loss.

Born in November 1923, Nadine Gordimer came from a different era. Her first task was to discover that South Africa was worth writing about. Of course she was by no means the first writer in South Africa, but growing up all her models were European; by definition that was where literature came from. Then came her dawning realisation: those masters, mistresses, and servants; the racially divided world she belonged to; the energies, passions and frustrations of the black townships; the personal experience of the political world; the deeper texts and subtexts of South African life: these and more became her topics, her roving ground.

She followed where her instincts led, and was clear on the fact that it was writing that led her to politics because — as she once memorably put it — “politics is character in South Africa”. If you were interested in character, you would soon realise that the world of apartheid suffused every aspect of the personal. Gordimer, chronicler and more of the personal, became the chronicler and more of the political in South Africa as well.

She had a precocious talent, and her first stories were published when she was still a teenager. To begin with, short stories were her métier, and few could equal the diamond-cutter precision which she brought to her craft. Then, by the 1950s, came the novels, and over the decades volumes of stories and novels alternated with impressive regularity.

But Gordimer was also a non-fiction writer. She travelled to Egypt, the Congo, and Madagascar, and wrote about those places, bringing to her work a sensuous feel for landscape and atmosphere that was virtually unmatched. As she became more immersed in the world of Johannesburg and the political temper of the times, so too she wrote articles about politics — about censorship, and the 1976 Soweto Uprising, and the chaos and apparently looming revolution of the 1980s. Long before the political world understood it, she followed Gramsci in defining that moment as the “interregnum”: when the old was dying, the new could not be born, and the present was filled with a great diversity of morbid symptoms.

It was, in many respects, her dissection of those morbid symptoms as well as the straitened attempt to come to grips with an unfolding history that characterised her great novels of the 70s and 80s. Her 1974 novel The Conservationist (in my view, her masterpiece) foretold in intensely realist yet richly symbolic form the eventual reclamation by black South Africans of their land.

Burger’s Daughter, published in 1979, focused on the daughter of an anti-apartheid political figure (loosely based on Bram Fischer) finding her way in the challenging context of the Black Consciousness movement, which rejected white involvement in the political struggle.

July’s People (1981) was set in an imaginary future of revolutionary breakdown, but its real revolutionary gesture was to understand the underlying codes and assumptions of an apocalyptic present through the perspective an imagined future could provide.

In the latter stages of apartheid, Gordimer embodied her allegiance in other ways: appearing in court as a witness for ANC members charged with crimes against the state, and attending funerals in the townships where black youths were at risk from attack by the police. As apartheid came to a close, many paid tribute, including Nelson Mandela, but her post-apartheid novels continued to explore South African reality without fear or favour in all its contradictions and continued problems.

One pattern, though, never changed: time and again her characters would face an impending choice on whether or not to leave South Africa. Time and again the choice became clear: it was not to leave, or, once having left, to return. South Africa was forever Nadine Gordimer’s place.

One morning in March 1980, I stood with great trepidation outside her front gate before going in to interview her for the work that became my doctoral thesis and in due course my first book. Later, I worked closely with her when I was editing the essays included in her non-fiction volume, The Essential Gesture.

Serendipitously in 1991, in the week when she won the Nobel Prize, we had invited her to our campus to give our most prestigious lecture. Later still, I saw her whenever circumstances allowed. We corresponded and spoke on the phone; I spoke with her just a few weeks before she died.

How do I, and will I remember her? To many she was distant, perhaps cold, her writing challenging and demanding. I saw it as filled with an underlying passion and deep feeling. I remember her eyes, observing all with a piercing yet intimate effect. Though small, she had the poise and balance of the dancer she had been as a young girl — and it was there in her sentences as well. There was steadfastness, loyalty, toughness, tenderness, and most of all great friendship.

In July 2012 I stayed in her house for a few days. We went together to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, one of her great pleasures in the city she loved. Though the weather was freezing, there was in her an unmistakable zeal, even as she became frailer, to live life to the brim. She had the rarest clarity of mind, body and spirit, there for everyone to see and read in her work.

Stephen Clingman does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

Michael Silverblatt, host of KCRW’s Bookworm, is known for earnest, in-depth conversations with heavyweight authors — from Joan Didion to Karl Ove Knausgard to Joyce Carol Oates. But he’s agreed to step out of his usual milieu for Press Play. Later this month, Michael will join Madeleine for a conversation about summer books. He’ll share his thoughts on two of the blockbuster releases of the season, “The Fever” by Megan Abbott and “The Vacationers” by Emma Straub.**

“The Fever” tells the story of a group of high school girls stricken by a mysterious illness. “The Vacationers” follows a family on vacation in Majorca, Spain.

Both books will get the Bookworm treatment on Press Play the week of July 21.

Bookworm fans who thrive on more intellectual fare should be sure to tune in too. Michael’s also going to be talking to Madeleine about his recommended “catch-up classic” — a book you might not have picked up yet, but really

should this summer — and he’s selected a doozy: James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” He’ll share why, and talk about what “Ulysses” has to offer modern audiences.

What are your favorite summer beach reads? Do you have a book you turn back to every time the weather gets warm? Have you discovered a new book that you can’t stop recommending? Let us know in the comments below. And remember: This is a safe space. You can admit to loving the trashiest novel on the shelf. No one’s judging.

**James Patterson’s novel “Invisible” was previously on the lineup but was bumped for various reasons.**

]]>http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/07/bookworm-beach-reads/feed/3The History of Future Folkhttp://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/07/the-history-of-future-folk/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-future-folk
http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/07/the-history-of-future-folk/#commentsWed, 02 Jul 2014 18:14:24 +0000http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/?p=1352“The History of Future Folk” is movie about space aliens who come to earth to destroy it, but end up playing bluegrass instead. They bill it as “the only alien folk duo science-fiction action comedy ever made.” Variety called it “close encounters of the charming kind.”

Future Folk stopped by our studios for an interview and live performance after their first stop of their “Part (Of) Earth” Tour. They’ll be showing the movie and playing for adoring – and bewildered crowds in 10 American cities.

Brazil’s World Cup is underway, but most of us don’t have the time to watch all 64 games. How to choose? Well, here are Press Play producer and soccer evangelist Christian Bordals’ recommendations and coordinates for a few that he says you definitely won’t want to miss

FRIDAY, JUNE 13: SPAIN VS HOLLAND — ESPN, NOON PACIFIC

This is a repeat of the World Cup final from South Africa in 2010, when Spain beat the Dutch team 1-0 after Andres Iniesta’s goal late in extra time. Holland has an all new backfield, but it’s attacking quartet of Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, Arjen Robben, and Wesley Sneijder are all returning.

The Spanish team has changed very little in the last four years, which has many pundits saying the team is getting too old to compete with the other top squads. This game will be an early barometer to see if Xavi, Iniesta, and company can still work their tiki-taka soccer magic.

SATURDAY, JUNE 14: ENGLAND VS ITALY — ESPN, 3PM PACIFIC

One of the most anticipated games of the tournament: the cocky Italians, perennial overachievers on the international stage, against the perennially underachieving Brits. Two soccer-crazy countries that will come to a standstill for the duration of the game. Italy is known for its tough defense, 35-year-old maestro Andrea Pirlo pulling all the strings from central midfield, and bad boy striker Mario Balotelli.

England arrives in Brazil with a team of great young talent: Luke Shaw (18), Raheem Sterling (19), Ross Barkley (20), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (20), Jack Wilshere (22), Phil Jones (22)… it’s a really exciting young group. The question is, how will they do against the experienced Italian pros — not to mention other big teams in the tournament.

Every English pub in town will be packed to the gills for this one. Not to be missed.

MONDAY, JUNE 16: GERMANY VS PORTUGAL — ESPN, 9AM PACIFIC

The two top teams in the “group of death” (Group G, which includes the U.S.) go at it on Monday. We’ll find out just how impacted Ronaldo is by his knee injury. And we’ll see if the Germans still have the same speed, power, and youthful exuberance that crushed all opposition on the team’s run to the semi-final in the 2010 World Cup.

This game will have implications for the U.S.’s hopes to reach the second round.

MONDAY, JUNE 16: U.S. VS GHANA — ESPN, 3PM PACIFIC

The U.S. opens its 2014 World Cup campaign by playing the African team that knocked the Americans out of the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. This is a must-win game if Jurgen Klinsmann’s crew is to edge Portugal or Germany out of a spot in the second round.

TUESDAY, JUNE 17: BRAZIL VS MEXICO — ESPN, NOON PACIFIC

The Mexicans have had an awful time just reaching the World Cup. BUT, they are also the team that beat the Seleção in the soccer final at the Olympics two years ago.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18: SPAIN VS CHILE — ESPN, NOON PACIFIC

The Chileans have a strong team, and their speed may well prove to be a challenge for the aging Spanish squad. Whoever comes out of Group B in second place will likely face Brazil in round two. Spain would like to avoid that by winning its group.

SUNDAY, JUNE 22: U.S. VS PORTUGAL — ESPN, 3PM PACIFIC

This may well be the U.S’s best chance at getting beyond group play into the second round. If the Americans can beat Ghana, a win, or even a tie, against Portugal could see them through.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26: U.S. VS GERMANY — ESPN, 9AM PACIFIC

Depending on how the U.S. does in its first 2 games against Ghana and Portugal, this may be a do or die situation for Klinsmann’s boys. If But if Germany has won both of its previous games and is assured of advancing, might it decide to save some of its stars for the round of 16? Time will tell…

The 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off tomorrow. Press Play producer and soccer evangelist Christian Bordal joined us on the show today to offer a preview of the games. Of course we asked him who will ultimately win the event, and his answer wasn’t so simple. This is his guide to the games – what to watch for, whom to watch for, and why the Brits are so down on themselves.

UPDATE 6/12/14: Brazil is on its way with a 3-1 win today over Croatia: deserved despite a good showing by the Croats, and a dive by Fred in the box to earn Brazil a penalty and its second goal. And Brazil’s young star, Neymar, is off and running, scoring two goals in the game (including that penalty). It’s a great start to his bid for the golden boot (the award given to the most prolific goal scorer in the tournament).

BRAZIL…Brazil seems to be topping everyone’s list of favorites to bring home the World Cup trophy, not to mention the $35 million that goes along with it. I’m not just talking about sports analysts and soccer nabobs. Economists at Goldman Sachs and elsewhere and even Nate Silver (who I’m told used to be a pretty fair baseball statistician before he pointed his slide rule at politics) have picked the Seleção to win.

Brazil’s Neymar (EFE)

The Seleção is what the Brazilians call their national soccer team — also the Seleção Canarinha (Canarinha means little canary, for the yellow jerseys they wear).

As Nate points out, home field advantage is a big deal. He writes that Brazil’s national team hasn’t lost an important home game since before the current crop of players were born (1975).

They certainly have a strong team that seems to be peaking at the right time. And they have a big incentive: the prospect of lifelong hero worship vs the prospect of lifelong ignominy.

Oh, and they’ve got that kid Neymar. Will this be his Pele moment?

BUT…there are some other pretty strong contenders that won’t be content to roll over and hand Brazil the trophy.

SPAIN…A golden generation of Spanish players has brought home the last two European Championships and the last World Cup. Winning those three in a row has never been done before.

Soccer players keep getting bigger and faster. But watching the magical technical abilities of the little Spanish midfielders run their tiki-taka geometry around the opposition is such a pleasure.

Spain’s Andres Iniesta(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Tiki-taka is a style of play developed around quick, short passing and movement. If you haven’t watched Barcelona or the Spanish national team play, do yourself a favor. They’re the guys that developed and perfected tiki-taka. And the anchors to both those teams are midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta. At 34, this will definitely be Xavi’s last world cup. See him operate while you still have the chance.

GERMANY…big, fast, athletic. Their young guns went blazing through the 2010 World Cup and then went oddly silent when they slammed up against Spain in the semi-final. They’ll miss Marco Reus (torn ankle ligaments), but they have plenty of firepower left.

ARGENTINA… Any team that has the incomparable Lionel Messi (though he’s looked a little more human this year), Sergio Aguero (squat, powerful striker who helped Manchester City win the English Premier League for the second time in three years), and Angel DiMaria (Real Madrid’s best player in its recent Champions League win over Atletico Madrid) is a force to be reckoned with. The defense is questionable, but their offense is killer.

England’s Raheem Sterling(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

THE OTHERS…Italy (the great Pirlo), Portugal (Ronaldo), Uruguay (Suarez), and Holland (Robben) are all worth a mention, but probably don’t have the depth to go all the way.

England seems set to continue their run as perennial World Cup underachievers: endlessly frustrating, given their countrymen’s fanatical love of the game. They have a wonderful group of homegrown young talent on the current team: Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Daniel Sturridge. That’s a really exciting group of young players. Add to that a few longtime stalwarts in Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerard, and Frank Lampard — not to mention one of the world’s best goalkeepers in Joe Hart — and you have the making of an excellent team.

OH AND…who knows why, but Belgium (!?) has suddenly sprouted a crop of fantastic footballers. They’re not mentioned on most favorites lists, but they’re my dark horse to surprise in the tournament. Eden Hazard, Chelsea’s incredible midfielder, is worth the price of admission. They won’t win it, but they should make it out of group play. In the second round, they’re likely to meet Portugal or Germany, and that should be a fun game.

]]>http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/06/whos-gonna-win-the-world-cup/feed/0Fishing the LA Riverhttp://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/fishing-the-la-river/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fishing-the-la-river
http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/fishing-the-la-river/#commentsTue, 27 May 2014 18:16:23 +0000http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/?p=1265A part of the LA River opened for recreation this Memorial Day Weekend. Press Play producer Matt Holzman went down to the river for a bit of fly fishing and Madeleine Brand spoke with artist and activist Jenny Price to get a better understanding of LA’s original waterway.

Ryan Casting

The LA River Runs Through It

Matt Tailing In His Line

Matt Snagged

Fishing at Sunset

The River at Sunset

Carp Flies

Photos by Stephani Casey. For more photos and information about fly fishing on the LA River, check out Ryan O’Connor’s Instagram feed and Twitter account.

For more information about the River, including places to play, click HERE. For more information about revitalization, click HERE.

For Jenny Price’s history of the LA River in The Believer, click HERE and HERE.

For information about her new project “Project 51: Play the LA River” that rolls out in September, click HERE.

Here’s that report Ryan mentioned in Matt’s piece about whether fish from the River are safe to eat.

Thank you to Brigid Kelly for production assistance on Matt Holzman’s piece.

It’s approximately 8,000,000 degrees in Boyle Heights, but the students at Hollenbeck Middle School don’t seem to mind. They bop around Suzanne Gindin’s music class, periodically strumming guitars or shouting to classmates across the room. Ms. Gindin is waving her arms around, attempting to calm the seventh graders and launch into the day’s lesson. Easier said than done.

Hollenbeck is almost entirely Latino – the definition of a segregated school. Sixty years after Brown vs. Board of Education declared that segregation was unconstitutional, Los Angeles schools are as segregated as ever.

Which means Ms. Gindin’s students are isolated, not just racially, but economically as well. And here’s what that means for the kids:

Los Angeles is one of the most segregated large cities in the country. So – no surprise – the Los Angeles Unified School District is one of the most segregated school systems in the country. A new study out by UCLA measured just how segregated California and Los Angeles schools are. Key findings:

Latino children are more segregated in California than any other state in the nation.

Los Angeles was the first major city to abandon its desegregation plan.

Latino children on average attend schools that are 75 percent poor.

Black children are more isolated than ever before. As the Latino population continues to grow, black children have become the minority in disadvantaged schools that are majority Latino.

Black and Latino children are heavily concentrated in schools with lower performance scores (API scores).

The most segregated school districts in California are in the Los Angeles and Inland Empire areas.

As part of our series Fault Lines, we visited schools, talked to parents and consulted experts on how we got to this point in Los Angeles. How six decades after the Supreme Court ruled that separate could never be equal, we’re more divided than ever before.

Listen to the radio version of this story below and then take to the comments to share your stories and thoughts on school segregation.

]]>http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/fault-lines-segregation-in-los-angeles-schools/feed/7“Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” Roz Chast Discusses New Memoirhttp://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/cant-we-talk-about-something-more-pleasant-roz-chast-discusses-new-memoir/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cant-we-talk-about-something-more-pleasant-roz-chast-discusses-new-memoir
http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/cant-we-talk-about-something-more-pleasant-roz-chast-discusses-new-memoir/#commentsMon, 12 May 2014 22:54:08 +0000http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/?p=1227Roz Chast’s cartoons are probably familiar to anyone who’s picked up a “New Yorker” in the past 30 years.

She’s been drawing for the magazine since 1978.

Her characters are usually filled with anxiety, insecurity and guilt; sharply observed schlubs who somehow capture the internal angst we all feel. Chast’s new book is a graphic memoir titled “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” It keeps with the artist’s humor while dealing with a not-so-funny topic: the aging and eventual deaths of her parents. It’s a funny, sad and painfully honest read.

Today on “Press Play,” Chast joined Madeleine Brand to talk about the experiences that led to the book. Listen here:

]]>http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/cant-we-talk-about-something-more-pleasant-roz-chast-discusses-new-memoir/feed/0Pot News You Can Usehttp://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/pot-news-you-can-use/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pot-news-you-can-use
http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/2014/05/pot-news-you-can-use/#commentsMon, 12 May 2014 17:53:11 +0000http://blogs.kcrw.com/pressplay/?p=1212California recently tried to impose specific, legal limits for driving under the influence of pot and other drugs. The proposed law didn’t pass, but Colorado already has a law in place and in all likelihood, eventually, we will, too. In the mean time, can you drive high? Madeleine Brand speaks with Joel Koury, a veteran criminal defense attorney.